Watch as 1000 years of European borders change (timelapse map)
An incredible time-lapse look at how drastically European borders have changed over the last 1000 years by Nick Mironenko on Vimeo.
http://vimeo.com/89394659
SUZI Q'S ESTATE FINDS
Monday, March 31, 2014
PGM Recycling Market Expected To Be Worth $9 Billion By 2018 – Research Firm
(Kitco News) - The market for recycled platinum group metals is expected to see significant growth over the next four years, according to a study from a private research firm.
The report, Global Market for Platinum, Palladium and Other Platinum Group Metals Recycling - A Global Technology, Industry and Market Analysis, was compiled by Innovative Research and Products. The firm said that they are expecting the global recycling market for PGMs to expand 8.2% by 2018 and have a market value of $9 billion.
“The platinum group metals recycling industry has sustained growth in the last decade and is likely to continue this growth into the next decade because of the increasing value of PGMs,” IRAP said in a press release.
July platinum future prices have been extremely volatile since the start of the year. Prices started January at $1,391.0 an ounce and by March 6 they closed at the highest point of the year at of $1,487.80 an ounce; however, prices have slid significantly lower since then. As of 1:28 p.m. EDT, July platinum was trading at $1,416.80 an ounce.
June palladium futures have fared much better than platinum as they started the year at $720.25 and has managed to hold on its gains. As of 1:28 p.m., June palladium was trading at $777.00 an ounce.
In the report, the research firm said that a growing global automotive market, especially in developing nations like Brazil, India and China, and strong jewelry demand will contribute the expanding appetite for the precious metals.
However, the firm also said that the development of new technologies and proliferation of fuel cells will also add to the demand the marketplace.
Breaking down the recycling market by geographical locations, the firms said that Asia has the biggest growth potential.
“Asia is expected to exhibit growth that exceeds some of the world’s most vibrant markets in the Americas and Europe by expanding at a rate of approximately 9.2% annually,” the firm said.
The European PGM recycling market is expected to grow by 7.7% and in the Americas, the market is expected to grow by 7.5%. However, the firm pointed out that the Americas could end up being the biggest source for recycled PGMs.
The PGM sector has garnered a lot of attention in the last few weeks as the industry tries to cope with rapidly declining supplies as a result of a mining strike in South Africa and tensions between Western nations and Russia.
On Friday, Chris Griffith, chief administrative officer for Anglo American Platinum, the world’s largest platinum producer, said the company’s stockpile of the precious metal has been cut in half to about 215,000 ounce since the work action started more than 10 weeks ago.
By Neils Christensen of Kitco News; nchristensen@kitco.com
Scythian gold collection should be returned to Crimea - Russian State Duma speaker
March 31, 18:17 UTC+4
The Russian State Duma lower parliament house Sergei Naryshkin sent relevant letters to Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Culture
The Russian State Duma lower parliament house Sergei Naryshkin sent relevant letters to Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Culture
MOSCOW, March 31. /ITAR-TASS/. The collection of Scythian gold, which is currently touring over Europe, should be returned to Crimea, speaker of the Russian State Duma lower parliament house Sergei Naryshkin said on Monday. The ‘Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea’ collection was taken from Crimean museums to exhibitions in European countries before Crimea’s reunification with the Russian Federation.
Naryshkin told journalists he had sent relevant letters to Russian Ministers of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and of Culture Vladimir Medinsky.
Currently, the collection is being exhibited in Amsterdam. “Our position is that the exhibits should be returned to their museums,” Naryshkin noted, adding that some of them had been loaned from Crimean museums.
The State Duma speaker said he had discussed this problem with Mikhail Piotrovsky, the director of the St. Petersburg-based State Hermitage Museum.
Back on March 26, Yasha Lange, a spokeswoman for Allard Pierson Museum, a subsidiary of Amsterdam University, told Itar-Tass the museum had not yet taken a decision on where to send back the exhibits. “The exhibition that started in February includes exhibits loaned by five Ukrainian museums, four of which are located in Crimea,” she said. “Agreement on these exhibits was signed before the political coup in Ukraine” and Crimea’s transition to the Russian jurisdiction. That’s why it’s extremely important for the Allard Pierson Museum to exercise caution in this situation.”
“The exhibits will remain in the Netherlands through to the end of the display, that is, until the end of August, after which they will be consigned to their legitimate owners,” she said. “Considering the knottiness of the problem, including the problem of who these exhibits should be returned to and how, the situation is now being scrutinized by Amsterdam University’s legal advisors and we’ve also asked the Dutch Foreign Ministry for recommendations.”
The exhibition ‘Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea’ displays the results of archeological excavations made in Crimea, including gold jewelry and treasures, weaponry, and household utensils that tell the visitors about the rich history of the Crimean Peninsula.
The cost of these antiquities is believed to reach several hundred thousand US dollars.
Creation of Russia nationwide payment system to take 2-6 months — Sberbank chief
March 31, 13:33 UTC+4
"We have created our Russian chip, it is certified, an identification application and all standards that are compatible with international payment systems are provided," Chairman of Russian public savings bank Sberbank German Gref adds
"We have created our Russian chip, it is certified, an identification application and all standards that are compatible with international payment systems are provided," Chairman of Russian public savings bank Sberbank German Gref adds
MOSCOW, March 31. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia will need from 2 to 6 months to launch a nationwide payment system.
“From the moment amendments are introduced in the law, I believe that we will need from 2 to 6 months of technical work to launch a nationwide payment system in different variants,” Chairman of Russian public savings bank Sberbank German Gref told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
Putin recalled that Gref “has initiated creation of a nationwide payment system in bank cards” a few years ago. “How is this work going on?” the president asked. Last week at a meeting with members of the Federation Council upper house of parliament the president has set the task to create a nationwide payment system in Russia, “Why don’t we do this? This should be done compulsorily and we will do this.” Putin has made this statement several days after the United States had imposed sanctions against Russian business people Visa and Mastercard had restricted access to their services to four Russian banks.
Creation of a nationwide payment system was discussed at a meeting in the Central Bank of Russia, Gref said. “Some changes are needed in several Russian legislative acts which can be amended quite quickly,” he said. The Sberbank chief noted that local Russian processing would be created to provide the whole scope of services for settlement, clearing and processing of all bank card payments.
In reply to Putin’s question “in which condition the law is now” the Sberbank chairman responded that the document had been submitted for debates in the State Duma. “I hope that now it may be enacted quite quickly in view of recent events and there are different ways to settle this problem,” he noted.
“We are prepared as much as possible, we have created a processing centre, we have created our Russian chip which company Sitronics produces, it is certified, an identification application and all standards that are compatible with international payment systems are provided, “ the Sberbank chief said.
An action in support of bank Rossiya to take place in Moscow
March 30, 6:15 UTC+4
The action is designed to voice support for the bank, which is creating a precedent in world economy
The action is designed to voice support for the bank, which is creating a precedent in world economy
MOSCOW, March 30. /ITAR-TASS/. An action in support of bank Rossiya which has decided to work exclusively with the national currency will take place in Moscow on Sunday.
The Golden Symbol of Russian Rouble installation in front of the bank’s office in Perevedensky pereulok in Moscow will symbolize the rouble’s stability and its backing by the country’s gold reserves, the action’s organizers explained to Itar-Tass.
The action is designed to voice support for the Rossiya bank, which is creating a precedent and can make those who have initiated penalties against Russia to feel sorry about their decision.
The bank’s transition to using exclusively the rouble may prove the Russian currency’s viability and independence in world economy.
“Russia, at its present stage of development, should not be dependent on foreign currencies; its internal resources will make its own economy invulnerable to political wheeler dealers,” the action’s organizers said.
The Russian joint-stock bank, AB Rossiya, decided on Friday that it would work only with the national currency to protect its customers from dishonest actions by foreign financial institutions.
“In order to protect the bank’s customers from dishonest actions by foreign financial institutions AB Rossiya has decided to operate only in the domestic market and exclusively with the national currency of the Russian Federation - the rouble,” AB Rossiya said in a statement released on Friday.
“The bank has already notified some U.S. banks that it is closing its correspondence accounts. Similar notifications have been sent to other foreign financial institutions,” the bank said in its statement.
Despite changes in its work, AB Rossiya will continue meeting its commitments to clients and partners.
“The bank will fulfill its commitments on time and in full volume. The bank does not need financial support for its current operations, including from the state regulator,” AB Rossiya said. The Visa and MasterCard international payment systems stopped servicing the plastic cards of four Russian banks, including AB Rossiya, on March 21 because of their links to sanctioned Russian businessmen included in the United States black list.
The bank Rossiya’s decision to give up foreign currency and start working exclusively with the Russian rouble is a step forward towards converting the Russian economy and banking sector to national currency, Andrei Kostin, the VTB bank president, said in an interview with the Russia 24 TV news channel commenting the decision of bank Rossiya to operate only in the domestic market and exclusively with the Russian rouble.
“We have been moving towards wider use of the Russian rouble as the currency of settlement for a long time. The rouble became fully convertible quite a long time ago. Unfortunately, we have seen predominantly negative consequences of this step so far revealed in the outpour of capital from this country. The influx of foreign investments into Russia has been speculative and considerably destabilizing to our stock markets,” Kostin went on to say.
The VTB chief said that Russia should sell domestic products - from weapons to gas and oil - abroad for roubles and buy foreign goods also for roubles.
“Only then are we going to use the advantages of the rouble being a foreign currency in full measure,” Kostin said, adding that AB Rossiya would form a vital part of the Russian banking system and would closely cooperate with other Russian banks, which would also expand the rouble’s use in settlements.
“A new imperative motive has appeared for that now,” the VTB chief stressed.
“I believe that other credit institutions, enterprises and citizens will be interested in working with bank Rossiya,” Kostin said in conclusion.
Imminent sales tax hike sparks gold rush in Japan
TOKYO -- Gold ingot sales have taken off among buyers who view the precious metal as an attractive investment before the 5% consumption tax jumps to 8% this April.
Investors seeking short-term profits from the difference between the old and new taxes are flocking to gold. So are buyers who see the metal as a safe haven from an uncertain future.
A recent decline in market prices has also fueled buyer interest. Gold futures in New York, a benchmark for international prices, have hovered around $1,310 per troy ounce, down 5% from the recent peak hit March 14. Retail prices in Japan were at 4,590 yen ($44.42) per gram Wednesday, down from 4,769 yen on March 14.
The top seller is ingots of 500 grams, according to precious-metals specialist Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewelry. The ingots carried a retail price of around 2.3 million yen Wednesday. The company's main store, in Tokyo's tony Ginza shopping district, has lately welcomed more than 100 customers a day seeking to purchase gold ingots. About 150 dropped by Wednesday.
At seven directly run stores of Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewelry, gold ingot sales volume shot up 380% on the year for the period from March 1 to March 25. Ishifuku Metal Industry, a Tokyo-based vendor of precious metals, has seen ingot sales this month surge 60% compared with February.
The new 8% consumption tax will apply to gold at the time of sale. So many are rushing to purchase gold at the current rate of 5% in hopes of selling it after the hike for a profit equivalent to the 3 percentage point difference.
But investing in gold can pose risks, including price swings. In addition, precious-metals vendors usually set their purchase prices lower than their sale prices.
Not all buyers are purchasing gold with the short term in mind.
"Many are opting to keep their gold for the medium to long term," says a marketing chief at Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewelry, citing such investment as a notable characteristic of the current buying spree.
"Inflation anxiety and other future concerns are spurring a growing number of people to buy gold as a safe asset," says Koichiro Kamei, a financial and precious-metals analyst.
China’s monthly gold imports jump 30%
According to new data from Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department mainland China's net imports of gold totaled 109.2 tonnes in February.
That's up more than 30% over the 83.6 tonnes in January and up a whopping 79.3% compared to the same month last year when Chinese imported 60.9 tonnes from the financial and trading hub.
As is the case with copper and increasingly iron ore, much of the imported bullion is being used as collateral for loans, mostly short-term facilities and trade credit, amid a worsening credit crunch inside the country.
Bloomberg quotes Liu Xu, precious metals analyst at Capital Futures Co. in Beijing as saying: "Policy makers are seeking to discourage the accumulation of debt in China, leading to tight money conditions and fueling such deals."
China overtook India to become the world's top importer of gold bars, coins and jewelry last year with 2013 imports soaring to 1,065 tonnes, up from 807 tonnes the year before.
Despite stringent import and trading curbs Indian consumption rose by more than 100 tonnes to 975 tonnes last year while according to some estimates "unofficial imports" almost doubled to triple digits.
Together the two giants are responsible for more than half of the world's demand.
The price of gold has shown double digit gains this year after 2013's 28% fall, the worst performance in more than three decades
Inflation Is Coming, What to Do—NOW
We’ve all heard of the inflationary horrors so many countries have lived through in the past. Third-world countries, developing nations, and advanced economies alike—no country in history has escaped the debilitating fallout of unrepentant currency abuse. And we expect the same fallout to impact the US, the EU, Japan, China—all of today’s countries that have turned to the printing press as a solution to their economic woes.
Now, it seems obvious to us that the way to protect one’s self against high inflation is to hold one’s wealth in gold… But did citizens in countries that have experienced high or hyperinflation turn to gold in response? Gold enthusiasts may assume so, but what does the data actually show?
Well, Casey Metals Team researcher Alena Mikhan dug up the data. Here’s a country-by-country analysis…
Brazil
Investment demand for gold grew before Brazil’s debt crisis and economic stagnation of the 1980s. However, it really took off in the late ‘80s, when already-high inflation (100-150% annually) picked up steam and hit unsustainable levels in 1989.
| Year | Inflation | Investment demand (tonnes) |
| 1986 | 167.8% | 20.0 |
| 1987 | 218.5% | 42.8 |
| 1988 | 554.2% | 61.5 |
| 1989 | 1,972%* | 86.5 |
| 1990 | 116.2%** | -74 |
Source: The International Gold Trade by Tony Warwick-Ching, 1993; inflation.eu
*Measured from December to December
**Year-end rate
*Measured from December to December
**Year-end rate
During this period, investment demand for bullion skyrocketed 333%, from 20 tonnes in 1976 to 86.5 tonnes in 1989.
And notice what happened to demand when inflation began to reverse. Substantial liquidations, showing demand’s direct link to inflation.
Indonesia
Indonesia was hit by a severe economic crisis in 1998. The average inflation rate spiked to 58% that year.
| Year | Inflation | Investment demand (t) |
| 1997 | 6.2% | 11.5 |
| 1998 | 58.0% | 22.5 |
| 1999 | 24.0% | 11.0 |
| 2000 | 3.7% | 8.5 |
Sources: World Gold Council, inflation.eu
Gold demand doubled as inflation surged. It’s worth pointing out that investment demand in 1997 was already at a record high.
Also, total demand in 1999 reached 120.8 tonnes (not just demand directly attributable to investment), 18% more than in pre-crisis 1997. But overall, once inflation cooled, so again did gold demand.
India
While India has a traditional love of gold, its numbers also demonstrate a direct link between demand and rising inflation. The average inflation rate in 1998 climbed to 13%, and you can see how Indians responded with total consumer demand. (Specifically investment demand data, as distinct from broader consumer demand data, is not available for all countries.)
| Year | Inflation | Consumer demand* (t) |
| 1996 | 8.9% | 507 |
| 1997 | 7.2% | 688 |
| 1998 | 13.1% | 774 |
| 1999 | 4.8% | 730 |
Sources: World Gold Council, inflation.eu
*Includes net retail investment and jewelry
*Includes net retail investment and jewelry
Gold demand hit a record of 774.4 tonnes, 13% above the record set just a year earlier. In fairness, we’ll point out that gold consumption was also growing due to a liberalization of gold import rules at the end of 1997.
When inflation cooled, the same pattern of falling gold demand emerged.
Egypt, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Here are three countries from the same time frame last decade. Like India, we included jewelry demand since that’s how many consumers in these countries buy their gold.
| Year | Egypt | Vietnam | UAE | |||
| Inflation | Consumer demand (t) | Inflation | Consumer demand (t) | Inflation | Consumer demand (t) | |
| 2006 | 6.5% | 60.5 | 7.5% | 86.1 | 10% | 96.0 |
| 2007 | 9.5% | 68.5 | 8.3% | 77.5 | 14% | 107.3 |
| 2008 | 18.3% | 76.8 | 24.4% | 115.8 | 20% | 109.5 |
| 2009 | 11.9% | 58.4 | 7.0% | 73.3 | 1.6% | 73.9 |
Sources: World Gold Council, indexmundi.com
Egypt saw inflation triple from 2006 to 2008, and you can see consumer demand for bullion grew as well. Even more impressive is what the table doesn’t show: Investment demand grew 247% in 1998 over the year before. Overall tonnage was relatively modest, though, from 0.7 to 2.5 tonnes.
Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates saw similar patterns. Gold consumption increased when inflation peaked in 2008. Again, it was investment demand that saw the biggest increases. It grew 71% in Vietnam, and 27% in the United Arab Emirates.
And when inflation subsided? You guessed it: Demand fell.
Japan
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to kill deflation pushed Japan’s consumer price inflation index to 1.2% last year—still low, but it had been flat or falling for almost two decades, including 2012.
| Year | Inflation | Consumer demand (t) |
| 2012 | -0.1% | 6.6 |
| 2013 | 1.2% | 21.3 |
In response, demand for gold coins, bars, and jewelry jumped threefold in the Land of the Rising Sun.
One of the biggest investment sectors that saw increased demand, interestingly, was in pension funds.
Belarus
Unlike many of the nations above, citizens from this country of the former Soviet Union do not have a deep-rooted tradition for gold. However, in 2011, the Belarusian ruble experienced a near threefold depreciation vs. the US dollar. As usual, people bought dollars and euros—but in a new trend, turned to gold as well.
We don’t have access to all the data used in the tables above, but we have firsthand information from people in the country. In the first quarter of 2011, just when it became clear inflation would be severe, gold bar sales increased five times compared to the same period a year earlier. In March alone that year, 471.5 kg of gold (15,158 ounces) were purchased by this small country, which equaled 30% of total gold sales, from just one year earlier. Silver and platinum bullion sales grew noticeably as well.
The “gold rush” didn’t live long, however, as the central bank took measures to curb demand.
Argentina
Argentina’s annual inflation rate topped 26% in March last year, which, according to Bloomberg, made residents “desperate for gold.” Specific data is hard to come by because only one bank in the country trades gold, but everything we read had the same conclusion: Argentines bought more gold last year than ever before.
At one point, one bank, Banco Ciudad, even triehttp://www.caseyresearch.com/articles/inflation-is-coming-what-to-do-nowd to buy gold directly from mining companies because it couldn’t keep up with demand. Some analysts report that demand has continued this year but that it has shown up in gold stocks.
What to Do—NOW
History clearly shows there is a direct link between inflation and gold demand. When inflation jumps, or even when inflation expectationsrise, investors turn to gold in greater numbers. And when gold demand rises, so does its price—you can guess what happens to gold stocks.
With the amount of money the developed countries continue to print, high to hyperinflation is virtually inevitable. We cannot afford to believe in free lunches.
The conclusion is inescapable: One must buy gold (and silver) now, before the masses rush in. The upcoming inflationary storm will encompass most of the globe, so the amount of demand could push prices far higher than many think—and further, make bullion scarce.
Your neighbors will soon be buying. We suggest beating them to the punch.
Remember, gold speaks every language, is highly liquid anywhere in the world, and is a proven store of wealth over thousands of years.
Yellen: Fed To Keep 'Extraordinary' Support 'For Some Time Come'
WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - The Federal Reserve will keep its "extraordinary" support for the economy for "some time to come," Chairman Janet Yellen said Monday in Chicago.
Labor conditions are worse than indicated by the falling unemployment rate, as evidenced by the low participation rate seen in recent months, according to Yellen.
She noted there are 7 million people working part time but who would like a full-time job.
"This number is much larger than we would expect at 6.7% unemployment, based on past experience, and the existence of such a large pool of 'partly unemployed' workers is a sign that labor conditions are worse than indicated by the unemployment rate."
In another sign that the jobs market has not quite healed, the number of people who voluntarily quit their jobs "is noticeably below levels" before the recession.
"For the many reasons I have noted today, I think this extraordinary commitment is still needed and will be for some time, and I believe that view is widely shared by my fellow policy makers at the Fed," Yellen said.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Finding Gold's Bottom, 'Big Fireworks' Come Friday: Chart This!
Kitco News speaks with Gary Wagner to see what happened with gold as it hit a 6-week low last week. “Although we’re seeing lower pricing in gold, it’s still up 50% from where the rally began in the beginning of January,” Wagner says. “On Friday, the market closed roughly in the area of $1,293 - that could be a potential bottom and an end to this corrective wave.” Wagner also touches upon the much anticipated jobs numbers report, coming our Friday, and how he thinks ... (read more)
Technical Trading: Gold Holds Fibonacci Support For Now
(Kitco News) - June gold futures are treading water, holding above 50% Fibonacci retracement support for now. The market has posted a steep correction the past two weeks, and the question is will the gold market be able to stabilize above support? Let's take a look at the chart.
On the weekly June gold chart (not shown here), the market posted a bearish outside week March 21. That signaled a short-term top at $1,392.20, which is now major resistance. The market sold off steadily from March 17 to the March 28 low at $1,286.10, which is now important short-term support. On the recent sell-off move, gold bears pressed the market under a rising bull trendline drawn off the December 31 low, which was a bearish chart signal.
Taking a look at Figure 1 below, however, for now the gold market has stabilized just above 50% retracement support off the Dec. 31-March 17 rally move. Additionally, daily momentum studies shown below the price action reveal oversold readings. The momentum indicators have not yet turned up, and do not reveal any bullish divergences. But, if the market can stabilize here, a bullish turn in daily momentum could emerge.
Watch momentum this week. A push above the 30% mark on the 9-day relative strength index would be a positive signal and a move across the 20 line on slow stochastics would be encouraging to the bulls.
What price levels do traders need to watch now?
On the upside, very short-term resistance lies at $1,299.40-$1,300.60. A sustained push above there would be a short-term positive signal, with the next upside target and resistance point at $1,307.50. If June gold can sustain gains above minor near term resistance at $1,307.50 it would suggest the market is gaining some traction, and would be a minor bullish signal.
But, looking at the downside, if support at $1,286.10 gives way on a closing basis, gold will be vulnerable to a fresh selling wave, with next downside support at the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement around the $1,265 level.
Gold has sold off sharply the past two weeks. There has been technical damage on the chart. But, the market is now oversold and holding above Fibonacci retracement support. Watch the short-term levels closely from here.
By Kira Brecht, Kitco.comFollow her on Twitter @KiraBrecht
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Ten ways you can be more like the Dalai Lama...
A friend of mine is friends with the Dalai Lama. My first thought while she was telling me this in the "Peace World Cafe" is this: I am two degrees of separation from the Dalai Lama.
Then she said what she felt was special about the Dalai Lama. "When you are with him, you feel that he loves you the way a mother would love a newborn baby."
My mother dropped me when I was a newborn, but I'm sure it was an accident.
But I thought about what Patty told me. I try to do it. When I meet people I try to imagine that I am their mother (very difficult) and that I care for them the way a loving mother would care for them.
And then I usually hate them again. But I keep trying to get back to mother. Mother / Hate. Mother / Hate.
I sometimes hear things like that about other people. For instance, a friend of mine works in Bill Clinton's office in Harlem. She says, "When he is talking to you, you feel as if nothing is more interesting to him than you. He is totally absorbed in you."
She was saying this to describe his charisma and the effect he has on people.
I'm talking with Dan Harris later today on my podcast. He wrote a book, "10% Happier".
One thing he mentions in the book is that people who meditate a lot use the word "I" less. They took a bunch of people who were expert meditators and recorded all of their conversations for a week. The idea is that meditation increases empathy for others. I believe this and yet...
I use "I" a lot. All of my blogs are about "I." I screwed up badly, I lost my family, I lost all my money, my home, my jobs, my, my, I, I, me, me...
Many expert marketing writers tell me that you're supposed to write about "You" more than "I." For instance, "YOU CAN LOSE WEIGHT IN TEN WEEKS!" as opposed to "Here's how I lost weight." Chris Brogan once jokingly told me, "You do it all wrong!"
"More conversions. More clicks," people tell me and I agree with them. Over 600 or so blog posts, when I've tested using "you" versus "I" in a blog post, I do get more clicks.
Often when I wrote a story about myself that I think is really good it gets much fewer clicks and shares than when I write "10 Things...", etc.
Nothing wrong with that. The reality is that everyone, including me, is motivated by self-interest.
But who is smart enough to improve others? It takes years of effort for me to even improve myself. And often I slip. I might get angry. Or scared. Or stop exercising for a while.
Many times, I can use the techniques I describe in my blog ("The Daily Practice") to quickly recover. But sometimes it takes longer.
Slipping is unavoidable. It's what being human is about.
So I'm going to do a list.
10 Ways to Be Like the Dalai Lama
A) IMAGINE EVERYONE YOU MEET IS YOUR CHILD and you want the best for them in life, even if they are crying and screaming and being annoying.
It's ok if it doesn't work. You can't be everyone's mother. But I have found that I see people a little differently when I use this technique and it works.
I always remind myself, "It's just practice."
B) TRY TO LEARN ONE THING.
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, does this technique when interviewing someone for a job. If he knows he's not going to hire them, he tries to find one thing he can learn from them so "This way the meeting is not a total waste of my time."
C) GET THE STORY.
Everyone has a story locked inside of them. Be a detective. Get the story. This helps to focus so you can do "B" above.
People ask me, "How can I find a mentor?" Your mentor is everyone around you. Without a single exception. Find out what each person is meant to mentor you about. Even your children.
D) The ONE Technique YOU NEED TO KNOW to Listen (See, I used "You").
When someone is finished speaking, wait two seconds before "taking your turn."
Most people jump right in, or even interrupt. But sometimes people talk, then gather their thoughts, and have more to say.
Once they gather their thoughts, the next thing they say might be the gem you were waiting for. So give the courtesy of two seconds. Wait.
E) WHEN YOU'RE ANGRY, BE QUIET.
When a cat is not feeling well, it often finds its little hiding place and then stays still and quiet until it's feeling better.
Doing this, as opposed to reacting to the anger, might save you and all of your relationships a lot of grief. For me, this is very hard: Anger is like smoking a massive dose of crack. It floods your body and comes out like a fire hose out of control.
Here's one way I try to do this:
Anger is really a form of fear. You get angry at someone because you are afraid they are stealing, or rejecting you, or they've touched on some insecurity you have.
Like, if someone honks at me, I might get angry, but the reality is I'm such a bad driver, I don't even have a license (suspended) and I shouldn't be in a car anyway.
So when I get angry, I ask first, "What am I afraid of?" If I'm angry at Claudia, for instance, it might be because I'm afraid (my insecure self comes out) that she doesn't like me anymore.
This helps me to be quiet and think a bit rather than stupidly fuel flames. Or not think at all! Since over-thinking is what got me angry.
F) AVOID FEAR OF GOING BROKE.
I've been broke. Not once. Not twice. Not three times. But many times. I've lost two homes. Blah blah. I've written about all this before.
This will sound totally stupid, and I'm almost embarrassed to say it.
But let's say something bad happens with my finances now. Suddenly I get into that post-traumatic stress thing where the trauma of going broke floods back into me. "I'm GOING TO GO BROKE AGAIN!" I suddenly think even though it might be totally irrational.
Here's what I do. I hit myself. I hit myself right in the chest and say "Abundance!" I don't say it in a "Law of Attraction" sort of way. I think the "Law of Attraction" has cost people a lot more money than it has attracted.
But I do it to remind myself of two things:
Out of the past 1000 times I've predicted poverty for myself, it has never really come true. Even my worst case scenarios (losing a home) turned out to be ok for me.
Saying "Abundance" reminds me to be grateful of things in my life. A lot of articles talk about the benefit of gratitude. I will add just one thing that most articles don't mention...
Don't be grateful for the same things each day.
Practice creativity with your gratitude. I'm grateful for the black hole at the center of the universe that created it and still left a tiny piece of itself deep inside of me, in all of the empty spaces. Thank you, Black Hole.
Someone asked me, "Do you put a number to it when you shout 'Abundance'?"
And the answer: Never. Because money is just a side effect of Abundance and not true Abundance. There are many side effects to Abundance.
G) USEFUL / NOT USEFUL
When someone writes a bad comment about me, on very rare occasions, I respond.
Has anyone ever responded back, "You are totally right, I am sorry"?
Never.
In the history of the Universe.
So my initial response back was almost never useful.
And yet, most of the day, we fill it up with not useful activity (news, bad TV, gossip magazines, negative chatter, etc).
We can't help it. There are actually many evolutionary reasons that we are attracted to gossip, to scary situations, to bad storytelling, to anger, to fear.
But evolution is over. This sounds like a stupid thing to say. But a mere 10,000 years ago we were running from lions. Now we aren't. But nobody has told our DNA that yet.
So all day long we sit and stare at a computer screen and we go through a thousand iterations of fight-or-flight (and then the resulting adrenaline spikes) without even moving. And then... heart disease.
It's like we are mugged all day long and we don't move.
Some study has said that the average human thinks 50,000-60,000 thoughts a day. I don't know how they measure this.
But let's assume the 80/20 rule holds here. That means, 10,000 thoughts are actually useful and have a positive impact on your life and the other 40,000 thoughts are not useful. Practice noticing which thoughts are useful and which aren't.
The Dalai Lama is an expert at meditation. But meditation is practice for Useful / Not Useful. He is probably very good at it. For instance, he has said that he forgives China for invading his homeland. Why does he do this? Shouldn't he hate China with all his heart?
No, because that would not be useful. Useful is trying to find a common ground to have conversations with China so Tibet can start to have more open communications with the outside world.
H) BE STUPID.
Someone the other day asked me how I invest. I don't invest. I look for people smarter than me and see how they invest and sometimes I piggyback.
I said, "Every time I thought I was smart, I lost money." When I predict things and they come true, it's usually because I was lucky.
I happen to think I am a very lucky person because I hang out with people who are smarter than me and kind enough to share their wisdom with me.
I don't think I am the only one who is stupid. I think just about everyone is smart at one or two things, but thinks they are smart at 1000 things. This is why I don't argue with people about politics. I might have my opinions. But I know when they argue with me, it's just a waste of time. One of us, and I don't know who, is incredibly stupid on the matter.
If I always take the view "You're right," it saves me a lot of grief.
There's a superhero in the "Legion of Substitute Heroes" called Kid Psycho. He can move things with his mind. But every time he does so he loses a year of his life. This is why he is only a substitute hero. Only for emergencies.
I know the more tense or useless thoughts I think ("I'm SMART so I'm going to argue about this!"), the more I will age.
In fact, you can measure age not by years but by the number of useless thoughts you think. We only have so many in a lifetime, and then we die when we hit that number.
I figure I can add a good ten to twenty years of my life just by reminding myself that I am stupid most of the time.
I) DON'T CREATE PROBLEMS FOR YOURSELF.
Pick the list of your top ten problems in life. Maybe you are overweight. Or addicted to drugs (or a person). Or afraid to ask for a raise.
It's very, very hard to solve a problem. To go on a diet. Or to get over an addiction. We don't really know how to do it. "It's our best thinking that got us here," goes the saying.
That means all of your thoughts that you have had from your birth until now has gotten you to this very point – the point where you have all these problems.
For me, that's 46 years of thought. It's too much to change. So today I look at what my little problems are. I list them and try to solve them. It's a little easier that way. I get back to thinking "Useful / Not useful." I assume I'm stupid.
It's hard to solve the big problems because you think, "Well, what's one more donut? It won't kill me!" And you are right. But one more donut will cause a little problem later when you think, "Ugh, why'd I eat that donut".
So I focus on the little problems that are easy to solve. The big problems will work themselves out.
J) DON'T TRY TO BE SOMEONE YOU AREN'T.
When I try the Dalai Lama technique my friend Patty mentioned (picturing everyone like a mother might picture a baby child), usually it's too hard for me.
That's ok. I tried. I'm not the Dalai Lama. Far from it. I'm not even Bill Clinton. I'm James (honorary Colonel of Kentucky) Altucher.
I'm trying to do my best.
Someone yesterday asked me how I want to be remembered 100 years from now. And I think she thought it flippant when I said I don't want to be remembered.
Many people are remembered for the horror they caused future humans. I'm fine living today and enjoying it if I can.
I honestly hope 100 years from now, I'm just gone from the dream/nightmare of living in this world.
Maybe I will be on another planet where I finally get born from the test tube they created me in.
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